


HYBRID In This Vortex...

by papirini



Series: 25 Year Project Saiken [2]
Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Constructive Criticism Welcome, Gen, Missing Scene, Original Year of Publication: 2000, Originally Posted Elsewhere
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:28:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24743839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/papirini/pseuds/papirini
Summary: The sailor soldiers end up in a future and a galaxy that is not their own, in order to face a terrible threat that even the Fates themselves cannot fight. Three American photojournalists are also caught up in the chaos, and the journey will change their lives forever...Originally written in 2000-2001, with some revisions.Please read the author's note before reading the story proper.
Relationships: Chiba Mamoru/Tsukino Usagi
Series: 25 Year Project Saiken [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1586716
Kudos: 1





	1. Part 2020, Looking Back

Well, it certainly has been a few months.

At the beginning of 2020, I'd been so bright and hopeful about how I was going to redo and revise all of my fanfiction from years past, and how it was going to be super easy and fun and oh boy! Surely this year will not turn into a train wreck! Well, color me embarrassed, because I think we can all agree that train wreck does not even begin to accurately describe this year, and it goes without saying that working on this particular project just wasn't a priority for the past several months.

However, now that I am back to working on it, let's talk about the year 2000. I was sixteen, then seventeen, and in my sophomore year of high school. Y2K turned out to be incredibly overblown, Al Gore was up for election, and the future was looking a little bright-ish, especially as a Sailor Moon fan. I was discovering more and more content that had yet to make it to American shores, and then it turned out that Sailor Moon had returned on Cartoon Network!

It was not a _bad_ year all around, at least from what I can remember. Even if I was in high school and still struggling with social situations and people still making fun of me and comparing me to other family members, as well as the fact I was ( _le gasp_ ) autistic but not _quite_ diagnosed as such. That I was hiding what I really was to neurotypical people, and had been for early decades at that point, and that I felt shitty and inadequate deep down, which had its own repercussions outside of my fanfiction and in my real life. 

I admittedly wonder, looking back, if that was one of my more subconscious reasons for having the character Andrew and his plot in this story. That, and me going, "crap! How do I make this irredeemable asshole a little more redeemable!?" That whole quandary (which I will readily admit I resolved poorly, even for my standards of WHAT?) wasn't helped by the fact that I'd also had my first real unfinished fanfic published and then taken down. Said unfinished fanfic was long-deleted story (and in fact, might be the only story I have ever wholesale deliberately erased from existence) that involved how Michiru dreams she's in those [Otakko comics](https://imgur.com/a/8RnoDwQ) that also briefly co-starred Lisa Ling for some reason from Tokyopop, and she goes insane as a result, and...Usagi has a dream about being on a hell-spawned version of Jeopardy as a result of whatever craziness had caused Michiru's dreams. It was called _HYBRID Strange Stuff_ , or something similar, and I only ever finished two chapters before I went, "uh, ok, maybe I'm not ready to tackle writing crackfic...I don't even know what I'm doing here or where I want to go with this." Selenity.net deleted it at my request, and no amount of of archive.org diving has produced any evidence of _HYBRID Strange Stuff_ being cached, so...consider yourselves lucky that it is gone forever, I guess. I decided that the next time I wrote something I'd actually have an idea of how to get from A to B with the plot. Again, not saying I resolved Andrew Merrill's subplot _well_ , but...I resolved it, and in the year 2000, that is what mattered to me.

As for the story itself, my intention had always been that the plot would involve a bunch of random normal people, who were also paparazzi, that get swept up in Sailor Moon's galaxy-spanning shenanigans because...why wouldn't that happen? It always seemed to happen in the anime. Not to mention that given how ubiquitous Sailor Moon was in my life, and how I thought a superhero universe should work, why wouldn't the whole world want to know more about this random group of super-powered individuals who popped up unexpectedly in Japan? It seemed weird to me that there were so few foreigners trying to look into this, or for that matter why only [Nana Asahina/Oniwabandana](https://wikimoon.org/index.php/Oniwabandana) (or rather, for those in who were first exposed to Sailor Moon via the machinations of one Andy Heyward and who still knew only the DiC dub names-and whatever the hell Mixxzine/Tokyopop was doing-at the turn of the century for the majority of Sailor Moon characters, Nancy Vargas/Ninjana) seemed to be the only reporter who ever had significant coverage on Sailor Moon and her team?

Of course, I now know that's not true-Sailor Moon and her team in-universe _was_ a big deal, and among other examples, the papers _did_ cover those acts and incidents that people were aware of, especially in Japan. Again, though, us DiC and Mixx/T-Pop babies who weren't particularly Internet savvy and whose 56k modem dial-up could barely load an animated GIF without kicking us off AOL had little to no clue everything changed, omitted, or just plain not available in English at that point. So naturally, a team of three Nancy-Nanas coming in from the United States to get a scoop on Sailor Moon made too much sense. It is certainly a product of its time, and even takes place during the time I write it, unsurprisingly. Except for the parts that don't, of course.

Interestingly, the three Fates which are so integral were developed as I was beginning to write the fic. I wanted to make sailors that were more like the Starlights, in that they don't have the same schemata of outfit that the solar system's soldiers have. It's a design philosophy I've carried over to subsequent fan sailor soldiers that I've created, and it eventually culminates in a certain chocolate-eating tentacle monster whose fic I'm sure I will get to eventually. That said, the whole "Fates can't intervene" thing was...not as well thought out as I thought it was. In fact, it's kind of plot-holey the more I think about it. After all, if the Fates were under the same or similar hands-off restrictions as Sailor Pluto was in the manga, for example, why would they ever be allowed to leave their temple, or think they can get away with poorly disguising themselves, putting hexes on innocent humans that change their destiny, or with wholesale _bringing an entire group of people from the past to change the fate of a star system in the future_ without getting into some trouble with whoever their boss was? It makes less sense the more anyone thinks about it.

(Also, fun fact, 'Sivad' is 'Davis' backwards! Surely no one caught onto that!...or they did. They probably did.)

There is also the inclusion of a certain seven year old pink-haired eating machine. I loved Kousagi the second I saw her, and so I incorporated her into the story as well-making _HYBRID In This Vortex_ , not just the first English fanfic to actually include her as a character, but the first fanfic in the world period.* For the record, I still love Kousagi as a character, even if I know now that the story is a gag story that wasn't meant to be taken too seriously. It doesn't matter to me. Kousagi is awesome. End of story. I should really add her to more fanfics, I don't know why I haven't yet.

As for the villains...well, I was going for continuing the tradition of naming villains after jewels, rocks and minerals that Naoko Takeuchi had used, with the exception of the main villain and it's most important dragon. It should probably surprise Absolutely No One that I hadn't really read _1984_ before I wrote this story, so the whole Big Brother-Little Sister-planet Newspeak thing was based on what little osmosis and information I had on the original story. (Funnily enough the dystopia we did read in my part of the school was _Brave New World_ , which ironically jump-started my interest in dystopia fiction in general.) Needless to say, I'm not changing the main villains' names, because in order to show my evolution as a writer, I have to show the good, the bad, and the unbelievably stupid. So, definitely feel free to enjoy me being an ignorant putz as you repeatedly smack your palm against your head.

Oh, but let's also not forget all the other...sailors?...of the Mystery system. I'll be honest, I just went to the family's outdated dictionary (back then it was only _mostly_ outdated) and chose what I thought were the coolest words with the coolest definitions for them. I think out of all of them, Sailor Katharos' name stands up best to scrutiny, while Manginominusumbra is the best name for tonguw twisters. I also stole a name or two from random weird-sounding cities (looking at you, Thessaloniki, Greece) and from the last names of voice actors off the back of my _Tenchi Muyo in Love! the Movie_ VHS (I don't care if it's been decades, let me just say to Debi Derryberry that _I am sorry_ ). What I'm saying is that I was not nearly as creative or cool as I thought I was, and I can only shake my head at my 16-to-17 year old self. Also, I do believe I got name Drynwyn from The Prydain Chronicles, if I am recalling right. I was just taking things from everyone to make this absolutely amazing story, wasn't I?

Like _HYBRID Cerynean Saga_ , this was also originally posted on Selenity.net, with this being the first time since that posting that this fanfic has been posted on any website, other than on my personal fanfiction site in its various forms. Also...weirdly enough, my original intention for the HYBRID stories that I wrote was that they'd _all_ take place in the same universe. So this is (or was) a canon sequel to _Cerynean Saga_ , and the prequel to the next three HYBRID fanfics I wrote. Nowadays, I consider this an AU offshoot within the convoluted Stephen King-esque multiverse that is apparently now my entire fanfiction bibliography-it's a "what if all the other backstory from those other mainline HYBRID stories I wrote never happened?". This is apparently the result. It's still canon to the fanfiction multiverse I've apparently built up in my mind over the years, just...the overall story is not a part of that canon I am particularly that happy about having written in the first place.

Moon Goddess Death Ray and Ginger ALEs, on the other hand? Those, I'm not ashamed of...

_*Well, ok, this needs some caveats. It's the earliest fanfic in the world that still exists and can be verified as having been that early, so far as I am aware, that has Kousagi as a main character. Archive.org can verify that the pages where my earliest fanfics were featured were up on the Guest Fiction section of Selenity.net's "Imagination" sub-site as early as 2001-which is the earliest capture of that page that was recorded. The guest art section can verify my fanart of Sailor Clotho-which I made, again, in conjunction with writing the fic-was up since before October of 2000, which is the earliest capture of that page. But, keeping all that in mind, and also because my Google-fu has been unable to produce anything older than the original Parallel Sailor Moon comic from the Materials Collection, I think I can safely say that, unless proof to the contrary somehow manages to be presented,_ HYBRID In This Vortex _is, at the very least, the earliest surviving fanfiction in the world staring Kousagi that is still available to read._

_And yes, I'm really proud of that fact. You are welcome to judge me, but I have no regrets._

* * *

So, in term of changes, this version of the fanfic that I am working with was actually copied and pasted from Selenity.net many years ago, back in 2001-it doesn't come from the original documents I'd written the story in, because I, like a fool, deleted them from my computer or lost the files to a crash. I don't remember quite which, but regardless I had been inflicted with the halcyon-minded assumption that it's the Internet, so my fanfiction will be up forever and ever on that one website, completely unlike my Tandy and Smith Corona-typed fanfics from the pre- _Cerynean Saga_ days. I learned my lesson, but not soon enough. (As for those fics from 1995-1998? Don't you worry, I will be touching on the story of those fics soon enough...).

As a result, the fanfic is actually missing a pretty crucial scene-the meeting between the Mystery sailors as a whole and our beloved sailor soldiers-because I didn't realize when I first posted it that I hadn't copied and properly pasted the entirety of the Part 9 & 10 document to the website's owner, before I destroyed or otherwise misplaced my only actual copy of said scene. There will be a brief summary of that scene as far as I am able to recall it within the story proper, but unfortunately, the original passage where the Mystery soldiers finally wise up and do the right thing after years of not doing it is unfortunately lost forever.

Otherwise, the rest of the fanfic is mostly as it is aside from the formatting and the extra weirdness that comes from the version I'm using basically being the copy of a copy. I added a few things here and there to make it slightly less confusing in certain parts, because once more I was using a style akin to [Alex Glover's translations](https://web.archive.org/web/20071006082408/http://www.kurozuki.com/takeuchi/sailormoon/old/) of the original manga, which means there's not much descriptive language. Again, though, this is basically the original fanfic as I had intended to write, and most of the changes are intended to be cosmetic and cleanup with spelling and grammar. Otherwise, it's minimal expansion.

Which means there was one rather large and glaring typo that had to be corrected after 20 years. It turns out that I spelled Vishnu (as in, the Vishnu Shield that is a major plot point in the story) as "Vinshu". As much as I find the typo adorable, my intention had obviously been to have it as Vishnu, so sadly I am correcting the spelling to be Vishnu and depriving you all of the laughs that might have come from seeing it. Likewise with Americans that just seem so… _incest_ with things. There are some hilarious typos in the original which I'm sadly getting rid of in this revised version.

With that, I hope you enjoy (or cringe at) this, the second surviving story chronologically of my backlog. But more than that, ever more important than anything fictional-stay real, stay safe, stay healthy. And don't ever forget-Black Lives Matter. They did in 2000, they do in 2020, and they will forever after we are gone.

_-Ni_

_6.25.20_


	2. Chapter 2

**Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon**

**H.Y.B.R.I.D.**

_Many years into the future. Location: in a distant galaxy._

_The devastation caused by the evil was unimaginable to anyone. Not anyone on the planet, or on any other planet surrounding it, could have imagined that such a being could approach the Mystery system. No one…save three Sailor Soldiers who looked upon the mystic remains of planet Solstice._

_As the hooded sisters mourned, one turned to face the others._

_"The evil that was allowed on this planet," she concluded, "has engulfed the hearts of the people to the point where not even our powers could save them."_

_The others nodded. "But…could we have saved them?" asked one of the sisters._

_"I do not know," replied the first._

_"But it is our job to know," objected the third. "Our destiny. For centuries the planetary Soldiers have been able to stop previous enemies from approaching Mystery who were stronger than this."_

_"Then we can assume that this enemy is different."_

_"Then what will prevent this enemy from attacking the other planets?"_

_The second turned to the third._

_"Sister, do not worry. Perhaps the others Soldiers will take heed and prepare themselves for battle."_

_"It's not that simple." The first, obviously the leader of the three, turned to the others. "Our sister is right. We must find more Sailors to defend the Mystery system from attack from the new enemy."_

_Her sisters gasped._

_"Us…Find new Soldiers?…But…it is forbidden! We cannot leave our posts!"_

_"The importance of our own duty outranks the importance of Mystery system with us, sister."_

_"Is that so?" The leader turned away. "If you are both so protective of this destiny, then I will do it myself." She began to flicker away._

_"No!! Sister! Don't…" The shout of the other two sailors faded away, and the sailor who departed went from a floating remain to a large circular room._

_"The ancient hieroglyphs." Pictures dotted the wall. "The stories of the past, pictures of powerful soldiers who lived eons ago." One picture in particular then caught her eye. "The former guardians…they would not have allowed this to happen…our predecessors would have fought…" She thought for a moment. "Can it be…that the Sailor Soldiers of this time have forgotten true strength, bold spirit? The power that comes of uniting all planet powers together? Not even we are that strong…can Mystery system be saved by Sailor Soldiers of the past?"_

_She knew that there was only one way to find out._

**In This Vortex…**

**Parts I & II**

_Now._

The editor looked angrily at his watch.

"Ten o'clock…They're late again!" He looked at his tiger cat sitting lazily on a chair. "What do you think, Pussy," he cooed as he scratched his head. "Should I fire them?"

"Meow," the cat reacted annoyingly to his rough petting.

"Naah," The editor replied. "They are my best. Oh, sorry. I keep forgetting that yellow bald thing on your head. I need to get you some surgery."

The cat once again reacted with an annoyed growl as he jumped off the chair.

Meanwhile, two men and two women were crowded in a small elevator. Both men wore press passes on their neck, while the two women had nothing with them. One of the women had long green hair and wore a lab smock. The other woman, wearing khakis and a black tank top, was blonde.

"So," the blonde said cheerfully to the green-haired woman, "Do you come to St. Louis often?"

"No," replied the green-haired woman. "I always heard it was a nice place, though."

"Better than living in Washington, at least," replied the blonde. "So, you're from Tokyo?"

"Tokyo?" One of the men, an African-American, joined in. "I went there on an assignment a few years ago. It's gorgeous."

"Yes…I work as a school nurse."

"Which school?"

"Who cares what school?" The other man, a redhead, turned around. "She works as a nurse. Like you need to know of care where."

"Andrew!" The blonde was shocked. "Show some respect to a visitor from another country!"

"Well, pardon my terrible manners, Grace, but you're forgetting that our asses are grass, because we're late again for an assignment briefing!"

"Aw, come on, Andrew." The African-American looked at him. "Don't be like that, especially to such a pretty woman. Besides, think about who we're talking about. We're always late to him."

"But this is an important meeting! Boss said so on the phone!"

"It _must_ be an exclusive scoop," remarked Grace, "If he was so urgent on the phone."

The elevator stopped. "This is where I get off," remarked the green-haired woman.

"It was nice to meet you, Miss…?" The African-American looked at her questioningly.

"Meiou." The woman smiled. "Perhaps we'll meet again on the way down. Good luck with your meeting."

The elevator door closed.

"Wow, missed opportunity there!" The African American whistled. "You know, if you weren't so mean to her maybe you could have asked her out afterwards, Andrew. She was hot!"

"Hey! Just because I'm not Mr. 'Married-with-Children' doesn't mean I can be picked on!" The elevator door opened. "Anyways, shut up already. We're here."

"You!!" The editor came out steaming. "Where the hell have all of you been! I called you two hours ago to come at ten!!"

"I'm sorry, Chief, my wife answered the-"

"Yeah, _yeah_ , Thompson, blame your wife!" The editor fumed. "Last week you blamed your kids, then your dog, then your hamster."

"Sir, I don't-"

" _ **THAT'S NOT MY POINT!!!!!!**_ " He screamed to the point where the whole office looked at him.

"Um…sir?" Grace looked at him a few moments later when he calmed down. "It was important?"

"Yeah, yeah, I called you in because it's something I heard about. In my office."

The three of them filed into his office.

"Hello, kitty," Thompson cooed as the cat jumped on a chair.

"His name's Pussy, but that's not why you're here. Sit down." Thompson shooed the cat away, much to Pussy's disgust. "All right." The editor started walking around. "As you know-"

"Sir, are you going to tell us the history of the paper again? It's just so amazing."

"Excuse me!?" The editor swerved around and faced Andrew. "You have a problem with hearing the story again, Merrill?" He frowned. "You can go to another paper if you're bored. Anyways," He started walking again. "As you know, the Ecstasy has been holding it's own for an entire century come three months from now. For years our paper has suffered in the category it helped to create-flashy headlines from the Sun and Star and Enquirer can be thanked for it. We've found a few good stories, but not any that was of real value to the industry. Now," he gave a little smile as he said this, "I think I've found the perfect exclusive to start off the next century of our paper with a nice, loud _bang_." With that, he pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled words on it. He handed it to them, and they saw the following words on the paper:

**SAILOR MOON**

After reading this, Andrew started chuckling. "What's funny _now_ , Merrill?"

"Sir, you're putting us on an assignment to find a non-existent-" It dawned on him. "Oh, _crap_."

"Yes!" The editor slammed his hand down on the table. " _Yes_! That's your assignment. Sailor Moon. You'll get pictures of her to put in our 100-year issue."

"Sir, this is ludicrous!" Thompson stood up. "Yes, I have said this about Pamela Anderson and Madonna-but they're _real_ people. Sailor Moon doesn't exist!"

"Oh, really?" With that, the editor took out pictures and placed them on the table. "Take a look at these, then. Bona fide pictures from the Nippon Express!"

In them were two girls dressed in sailor suits fighting a strange monster.

"There," the editor proudly smiled. "How's that? I've made a deal with the editors over there that if they don't show their pictures before our issue comes out, we'll pay them a pretty penny. If we don't come up with our own Sailor Moon pictures in three months, then let's just say any chance we had of a real come back is shit on a shingle! You're my best reporters. The future of this paper is in the hands of you three…and Sailor Moon!"

* * *

"I don't believe it." Grace scratched her head. "It doesn't make sense."

The three of them were on a plane to Tokyo.

"I don't care what he shows us." Thompson mumbled. "I won't believe it until I see her."

"I really think those pictures he showed us are fake." Andrew looked out the window. "Even if they are, if those 'Sailor Soldiers' find us taking pictures of them they might kill us."

"Well, either we get those pictures of he'll fire us." Grace stood up. "Either way, we really have no choice." She went down the aisle.

As she left, Andrew spotted a familiar face sitting down a few rows ahead.

"Hey, isn't that the Meiou girl from the elevator?"

"Yeah." Thompson looked over in her direction. "Hey, and there's her boyfriend. Guess you hurt her feelings and lost your chance."

Andrew scowled.

In their row, Haruka and Setsuna talked in whispers.

"Those are the three?"

"Yes." Setsuna nodded. "I met them on an elevator."

"So they're paparazzi? What should we do?"

Setsuna hesitated. "I'm not sure. I have a feeling something is going to happen. I can't say when. But they might be needed."

Meanwhile, Grace came back to her seat. "The men's room is open for anyone needing to go."

"Sure."

As Andrew entered the aisle, a cart suddenly rammed him. He fell over, howling in pain.

"Oh no!" The blonde stewardess driving the cart screamed. "Call 911!!"

"Watch where you're _going_ ," Andrew screeched, "you _stupid_ bitch!"

" _ **ANDREW!!**_ " Thompson turned to the stewardess, who was tearing up. "Don't bother, miss, he's always like that. I'm sure it was an accident." The blonde stewardess sniffed.

From their chairs, Haruka and Setsuna chuckled.

* * *

"Hello?…Yes, we're here at Narita…Oh, we're fine…well, Andrew got run down by a stewardess…yes, dear, I know he deserved it…tell Jamie and Baxter to brush their teeth…love you, dear…bye." With that, Thompson hung the phone up.

"I'm going to be bruised for days!"

" _So_?" Grace chastised Andrew. "That doesn't matter. And next time, don't be so rude to someone who's trying to help you, which is what Ms. Meiou was going to-"

"She had that goddamn peroxide stuff that I'm allergic to!"

"She was trying to help you."

"She was doing _shit_!"

"Forget it." Grace turned to Thompson. "Where are we staying?"

"Hilton Tokyo." Thompson looked over to see Setsuna and Haruka comforting the stewardess. "She's still crying, Grace?"

"Andrew scared her half to death when he threatened to sue her."

"Figures. Come on, let's go."

As they left, Andrew turned back to look at the three and saw an unusual thing happen. For one moment, the stewardess still wore her airline suit and bobbed cut. However, the moment he blinked showed him another thing. Where the stewardess had been was now a Japanese schoolgirl with long hair put up in what looked like two meatballs. He thought at first he was dreaming but as he kept on looking he realized that he didn't dream anything. The stewardess somehow, in the blink of an eye, changed into another form. How it might have happened, he wasn't sure, but _somehow_ …

"Andrew!" He was snapped out of his thought mode. "I've been calling you for five minutes. Snap out of La La Land and let's go!" With that, Thompson dragged Andrew to the bus.

* * *

That night, Tokyo was calm. Although the Sailors prepared for any trouble that might have been aroused by the "new arrivals" (as Haruka preferred to call them) nothing happened. So the fourteen Sol Sailors-the known ten, along with Mamoru, the crows and little Kousagi from the future-and the three cats were reduced to talking and roasting marshmallows and other foods outside Hikawa Shrine.

"If you ask me," Minako remarked, "They're a bunch of dorks."

"I particularly don't like that one guy. How dare he insult you, Usagi!" Makoto disgustingly jabbed her marshmallow into the fire.

"Hey, it was an honest accident, Usagi." Ami assured her.

"Anyways, I'm not surprised that it would be a guy in the least bit." Rei fed a roasted cracker to Phobos.

"Mmmmm," Usagi munched on her marshmallow. "I'm still upset. He was really scary."

"I am," Luna said while picking at her marshmallow, "quite disturbed that these paparazzi are coming to try to take pictures of us. Americans just seem so…incest with 'the scoop' and 'dirty' things."

Suddenly, Chibi-Usa, with Diana on her hand, sped by the fire holding a washcloth. "Come back!" She shouted. "Stupid little rabbit-"

"Chibi-Usa," Mamoru looked at her. Chibi-Usa turned red.

"Oooooooh," Diana held her head. "I feel dizzy."

"I'm sorry, Mamoru, but Chibi is being uncooperative!"

"Nuh-uh!!" Kousagi shouted back from the bush. "I was not! I was being better than her!" She hopped out wearing nothing, and she had soapsuds all over her head and body. Everyone gasped.

"Kousagi!!" Mamoru went over and picked Kousagi up. "You know you aren't allowed to be out here until you finished your bath."

"I don't want Usagi to help me! I want marshmallows!"

"You _wanted_ her to help you, remember?"

"She hurts me. She tried to stick the washcloth in one ear and pull it out another and it hurt!"

"Its called personal hygiene!" Chibi-Usa retorted.

"Kousagi," Usagi came over. "You have to let Chibi-Usa finish. Don't worry. It won't take that long if you just let her clean you."

Kousagi scowled but went back into the shrine, with Chibi-Usa following her. "That went over pretty well."

"Well, that's what happens when your future children come back to the past."

"Hey," Hotaru looked at Usagi. "That's the first time I've seen you discipline those two."

"Hey, I've disciplined them more than once."

"You'll have to do a lot more with them fighting like they are." Minako looked at them. "Whichever one gets to babysit-you'll be up all hours of the night tonight!"

Usagi and Mamoru groaned. 

As the party of sorts went on, the hooded figure floated on one of the branches. She looked at the group as Kousagi suddenly flew out of the shrine, this time wearing a nightgown, and started devouring the remaining supply of marshmallows from the bag.

"Silly girls." She started to flicker away. "But they know how to fight," she remarked.

"Mmmmmpfh?" Kousagi's head flew up, her mouth filled with marshmallows.

"What?" Usagi let go of her.

" _Mmmmm_ mmrr mwady."

"I can't understand you."

Kousagi gulped. "There's a hooded lady."

The sailors looked up, only to see her flicker away.

 _A hooded lady?_ Setsuna thought. _Perhaps…no. I would have known, right?_

"Setsuna?" The others looked at her.

"I've never seen her so focused," said Usagi.

"Something's wrong, isn't there, Puu?"

Setsuna gave no reply.

* * *

"Lucas, we've been standing like this for _hours_. Can we please sit down?"

"Okay, fine." Thompson looked around. "Don't worry, Grace, I agree. The man said he would only be gone for ten minutes."

Both him and Grace were standing on a street corner in the Juuban district. The two were armed with their cameras and three rolls of film each.

"I'm hungry, too. Oh, look." Grace pointed to Crown Fruit Parlor. "That looks like a humble little place to eat."

In Crown Fruit Parlor, Usagi was talking to Motoki and Unazuki about the paparazzi and the flight.

"…And I was disguised as a stewardess. So I was serving beverages when suddenly one of them-who was a _total_ bastard, by the way, and wanted stuff the airline didn't _have_ -jumped up and I rammed into him. He called me a bitch! I hate people like that!"

"These paparazzi are looking for you?" asked Motoki, amazed.

"They sure are. Setsuna-"

"Hey," Unazuki looked up. "I think they're coming in now. Look, they have the cameras."

They all looked and saw Grace and Thompson enter the parlor. "Tell us the rest later," whispered Motoki, who then added in a normal tone, "So, Usagi, you want another Coke?"

"Oh, sure!"

"Excuse me," Thompson and Grace sat down in a way so that Usagi was in between them. "Could I have a menu?"

"May I have one as well?"

"Sure." Motoki whipped two out and gave them to the paparazzi.

Thompson looked at Usagi. _Something familiar about this girl…_

_"Oh no! Call 911!!!"_

_She reminds me of the stewardess…her eyes and face…but her hair isn't short enough. Still…_

_Strange,_ thought Grace. _If I didn't know better, she looks and even sounds a lot like that stewardess on the plane. The one that ran into Andrew. No. It's not possible…is it?_

" _They're onto me,_ " thought Usagi. _That bastard must have seen me turn back, and told them. They know who I am. Oh, God, could they even know that I'm Sailor Moon?..._

Nobody spoke for about a minute. Finally, Thompson broke the silence by saying, with a friendly smile, "Hello."

Usagi jumped up in shock.

" _Aaaah!!_ "

She almost tripped her feet on the stool but caught herself.

"I'm sorry, did I frighten you?"

Grace looked at her in shock.

"Oh…I'm sorry," Usagi replied nervously. "I didn't-"

"I'm supposing you're shocked to see us again?"

"Again? Who are you?"

"I…"

At that moment, Andrew burst in. " _Goddamn it_ , you two!" he shouted. "I told you to wait…" He saw Usagi's backside. "Huh?"

Usagi turned around.

" _ **YOU!!**_ " Andrew jumped back. "It's you again!"

"You noticed it too, Andrew (I'm surprised you even bothered to come back)?" Grace looked at him.

" _You!_ " Andrew screeched accusingly. "You're the one on the plane. The bitch who knocked me over! I saw you, how you magically transformed into a 'sugary sweet, rot-your-teeth' schoolgirl in the flash of an eye. Don't deny it!"

From in a corner, Motoki and Unazuki watched.

"Busted!" Unazuki shook her head.

"Saw me? But…how?"

"So you were the stewardess." Thompson looked at her. "I thought as much. First your face, then your mannerism when I said hello. It gave it away."

"One thing you should note, miss," Grace pushed her hair back. "Is that if you knew we were journalists-which most likely you did, since Miss Meiou probably told you-you shouldn't have let yourself to your regular habits in front of us. We pay very good attention to people, and we did that for you."

"What I would like to know," Thompson returned, "Is how you changed back like Andrew said you supposedly did." He looked at Andrew with a little look.

It occurred to Usagi that, even though she was found out about the stewardess disguise, they had not yet deduced anything of her being Sailor Moon… _yet_ , although she was sure that it might change soon. Then she saw Thompson was giving Andrew a stern look and she also realized another thing. The bastard isn't not in good water with the other two, and that just might work for me.

"So what do you say to that?"

"Magically change?" Usagi tossed her hair back. "Bull. Perhaps I quickly changed, but I didn't change the way he said I did. It's my job to disguise myself! I am an undercover agent for a secret agency."

The three paparazzi looked at each other.

"An undercover agent?" Thompson looked amused. "We don't buy it."

"If you're an agent," challenged Andrew, "Then why are you a schoolgirl?"

Usagi gave a little pouty sigh, giving away pretense disgust with the three, hoping that her acting ability-or lack of it-wasn't giving anything away.

"Oh, Americans can be _so_ simple minded sometimes. I am only a schoolgirl when my job isn't requiring me to be in disguise. I am a part of a special high school force. My job is, of course, to serve and protect."

"Really? What's you name?"

"If I told you, I'd have to find your room at the Hilton and kill you."

The paparazzi, even Andrew, seemed taken aback by this remark.

"That's right. Unknown to you I followed you to the hotel you're staying at. Just pull a few strings, a quick phone call, and I can get your heads rolling on the ground! In fact," at this Usagi started towards a phone, "you're annoying me."

The three quickly excused themselves from the Crown Fruit Parlor. As they left, Motoki and Unazuki came out to her laughing.

"Bravo!" Motoki clapped.

"That was pretty good." Unazuki sat next to her. "I think you scared them to death!"

Usagi held her head on her hand. "I hope so…"

* * *

The three paparazzi didn't stop running until they were two blocks away from Crown Fruit Parlor. They pushed through the crowds until Thompson found a bench where they could relax.

"What a weird girl," gasped Andrew and he collapsed on the bench. Thompson started to chuckle.

"What is it, Thompson?" Grace checked her camera.

"You have to admit, that girl put on one hell of a show."

"Yeah, I _guess_ so." Andrew muttered.

"She may have put on a show," Grace cocked her camera. "But the one we put on was better."

"That girl just sets herself up for us, doesn't she? Stewardess or schoolgirl."

Thompson nodded. "True. That makes her even more suspicious. What kind of an 'undercover agent' just reveals herself to a group of paparazzi and then tries to threaten us? If she were what she said, we would be in body bags right now."

"You think she's hiding something from us?"

"I _know_ she's hiding something from us. Her, and Ms. Meiou."

"I think," Andrew scratched himself in the crotch.

"Andrew…." Grace muttered with clenched teeth.

"Sorry." Andrew sat himself up. "I think she knows why we're here."

"Of course she does, courtesy of Ms. Meiou."

"But how does _Ms. Meiou_ know?" Grace asked. "There's no possible way that she could have found out unless…"

"Unless…what?"

"…unless she found some way to listen to our conversation. And anyway, why would she be interested in what we're looking for?" Grace caught herself and turned to the other two. "Do you have those photos Boss gave us?"

* * *

The monster appeared out of nowhere. When it touched down upon the Nagamu Bank the people had already dispersed from work, so no one had been hurt at that point. Of course, that fact was changing rapidly as the monster approached the Jubaan district, and as Rei and Kousagi was to learn, it seemed hungry. It swallowed people whole, tore up trees, and was jumping (or, considering the mass and weight of the thing, crashing and destroying) the stairs to Hikawa Shrine.

"Holy crap!" Kousagi whined as the thing looked around with its tongue sticking out. "That _HUGE_!!"

"Kousagi!" Rei scolded.

"Sorry."

"Well, I suppose you should henshin too, Kousagi."

"O-kay! Parallel Moon Power!"

"Mars Crystal Power!"

" _Make-Up!!_ "

The monster, by this time, found Grandpa Hino, and was having fun chasing him.

"Fat little human! Come back here."

"Hey!!" Grandpa Hino was running around furiously screaming for help. "Someone help me! Rei, Rei, get me my semi flamethrower! Rei? Rei! REI!!!"

"Deep Fire Inferno!!" The flame attack created a barrier between the creature and the grandfather. "Got it right here!!"

The creature snarled. "What's this?!"

"Devil mound from hell!" The two sailors appear. "We are the protectors of the system's solitary living planet, Earth. We won't allow you to destroy sacred ground and its keeper! The fire star, Sailor Star Mars!"

"The second Chibi Moon, Sailor Star Allo Moon!"*

_*("Allo" is from Greek's allos, or "other")_

"In the name of Mars and the moon, you're punished!"

The creature looked at them. Suddenly it opened its mouth and let out a huge screech, causing the trees to crumble. The earth suddenly gave way under Mars and she started to fall.

"Allo Lady Crack Whip!" The little girl created a magic rope and tied it to a temple column. "Rei!" She threw it to Mars.

Mars caught the rope and used the airborne velocity it gave her to swing up out of the hole and kick the creature. The creature roared, and charged at the two.

* * *

In the bushes, meanwhile, Grace was happily snapping away.

 _This is great!_ she thought. _I don't believe it. The Sailor Soldiers do exist! I wish those guys would hurry up._

A rustle in the bushes caused her head to whip around. "Oh my god!" she gasped.

* * *

Kousagi's head suddenly snapped up.

"Allo Moon?" Mars looked at her.

"The hooded lady…"

Without warning, Mars and Allo Moon were snatched up out of harm's way. The creature barely missed decking the two and instead crashed into the temple, destroying two columns.

"Tuxedo Mask!" Mars looked up to see Mamoru grabbing onto their clothing.

" _Daddy!_ " Allo Moon looked around. "The hooded lady is here!"

"The hooded lady?"

"There's no time for that! Where is everyone, Mamoru?"

As if on cue, Neptune and Uranus came and surrounded the creature. They attacked.

"World Shaking!"

"Deep Submerge!"

"Daddy…"

The creature looked at the two attacking soldiers, but did not seem hurt.

"Mmmmm…these are yummy looking soldiers." Suddenly the monster opened its mouth, this time trying to suck Neptune into it.

"Aaaah!" Neptune braced herself.

"Neptune!"

Usagi, Makoto and Setsuna appeared. "What a disgusting creature!"

"Henshin! Moon Eternal!"

"Pluto Crystal Power!"

"Jupiter Crystal Power!"

" _Make-Up!!_ "

"Jupiter Oak Evolution!" The attack stopped the monster from taking Neptune.

"This creature is strong. It seems to be immune to water and light attacks."

"What?!" Eternal Sailor Moon stopped and looked at Pluto.

"Your powers could destroy it, and everyone else's, but not Neptune, Uranus, or Mercury."

"It's good that Mercury didn't come." Sailor Moon took out the eternal tier. "Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss!"

The monster disintegrated, and it's victims-the people it ate-suddenly appeared on the ground, asleep.

"Wow. A monster like that ate _that_ many people?!" The three cats appeared.

"Sailors! Get out of here!" Artemis panted. "The tabloids are coming!"

"Let's hurry," Setsuna took out her staff. "Tele-"

"No need." Out of nowhere Thompson and Andrew came out. "Don't move."

" _You_?!" The Sailors were taken aback.

The two had their cameras.

"You guys are very photogenic." Thompson put a roll of film in his bag.

"You took our pictures?! You capitalistic pigs!" The only thing that prevented Jupiter from going and ripping Thompson's eyes out was Tuxedo Mask and Uranus' restraint.

"And _you_ ," Andrew pointed to Sailor Moon. "You are the worst actor in the world! We knew you were hiding something, we knew it. All that garbage about being an undercover agent. Useless to you now."

"Oh no…" Usagi realized. "You followed me!"

"We saw you and Ms. Meiou running," Thompson replied, "And considering the ramifications of the past three days-your disguise power, Ms. Meiou's confiding to you (along with your Oscar-winning show)-we decided to follow. Now we know why."

"This is very interesting." Pluto looked at the others. "We have a dilemma on our hands."

" _Yeah_!" shouted Kousagi. "The hooded lady has been watching us for five minutes, and she has the other one!"

"Other one?" It hit Mars. "Another one?! He's been here the whole time?!"

"Grace is a girl, and how did she know to come here?" Andrew looked at Thompson.

"Maybe she followed the monster," shrugged Thompson.

"The hooded lady has her!"

"Kousagi," Mamoru looked at her. "Who is this hooded lady?"

" _I_ am."

The reply caused the group to turn around and face a hooded figure. She held Grace by her shirt collar.

"I have found you. A fight well done, my friends." At that, the figure began to change.

"Her hood is coming off! I told you!" Kousagi cried.

The robe that the figure wore game way and revealed a woman wearing an unusual black mini-dress with beads coming from a oddly shaped brooch which wrapped around it. She also wore a Sailor top, which indicated to the Soldiers whether this being was friend or foe (but judging from the color scheme, Kousagi thought she could be evil). She wore a black tiara which, instead of being like the Sol Sailors' tiara, peeked out of her black hair, making it like she had horns. Her hair was in a strange style, with a Phi-esque lock of hair coming down and covering one of her black eyes and part of her face (which was shadowed in an odd way, so that nobody could see her mouth). She wore hose-net stockings on her legs and had black high heels. A staff appeared in her hand. Everyone, Sailor and paparazzi alike, were in awe of this strange yet elegant seeming Sailor Soldier.

"Greetings, Sailor Soldiers." She said. I am Sailor Atropos."

_To be continued…_


End file.
